Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course Review – A Roaring Good Time

When Cuphead originally came out a few years ago, it quickly became one of my favorite games of that year. Fast forward now to the release of The Delicious Last Course, and things don’t seem to have changed too much. The base campaign of Cuphead is known for being a fun romp that loves to test a player’s ability alongside their patience. Cuphead’s unique art style also did quite a bit to capture a fair bit of attention.

While we’ve already spoken about Cuphead at length in our original review, we can’t really discuss The Delicious Last Course without talking about the base game. This is because not only does The Delicious Last Course add a whole new island with a bunch of new bosses, a new story, and a new character to the game, but all of these aspects also affect the base game. So let’s get started.

"Thankfully, rather than feeling overpowered, Chalice instead feels unique. You won’t be plowing your way through Cuphead’s notorious boss fights just because you’re playing a DLC character. If you couldn’t beat the carrot as Cuphead, you likely won’t be able to beat it as Chalice either."

Accessing The Delicious Last Course is quite simple. Since it had been quite a while since I last played Cuphead, I decided to start a fresh save to play through the DLC. Unlocking it involves just playing enough of the game to be able to do the first Mausoleum. Clearing the Mausoleum spawns a new character that will take you to the new island in The Delicious Last Course.

The Delicious Last Course’s plot kicks off the moment you get on the boat, and pretty soon, we’re introduced to the new playable character—Miss Chalice. Since Chalice has her own unique moveset, rather than picking her as a character through any menu, you instead just equip a new item in the accessory slot. Chalice is quite unique when compared to Cuphead or Mugman, since she has an innate double jump, and even a unique dash that doubles as her parry.

In Cuphead, Miss Chalice originally starts out as a ghost that you help out during the Mausoleum levels. The moment you get to the new island in The Delicious Last Course, Chalice is able to trick Mugman into eating a fancy cooking that allows her to live while turning Mugman into a ghost. The plot doesn’t get too complicated from there; Cuphead, Mugman, and Chalice are out to figure out a fancy baking recipe, through which they can learn to control the astral plane.

"Much like the Mausoleums, the Floating Palace challenges act as a soft refresher on mechanics in a way by taking away just about every other tool you have except for the one being tested. Sure, it’s a series of challenges, but in a way, it’s also a great way to practice things like the perfect timing for Miss Chalice’s unique dashing parries."

What makes Miss Chalice even more interesting is that you can play as her even in the base game. Thankfully, rather than feeling overpowered, Chalice instead feels unique. You won’t be plowing your way through Cuphead’s notorious boss fights just because you’re playing a DLC character. If you couldn’t beat the carrot as Cuphead, you likely won’t be able to beat it as Chalice either. Instead, Miss Chalice is more of a new tool to add to your collection. If you think a boss fight could become more manageable thanks to her unique abilities, you can quickly switch to her.

You can’t really talk about Cuphead without talking about its brilliant boss fights, and that is one situation where The Delicious Last Course does not disappoint. All of the new bosses feel distinct from what we’ve already seen in the base game. The game’s unique art style is handled better than ever, and the care and attention that has gone into designing these new bosses becomes obvious once you actually pay attention to the sheer number of moving parts in any of these new fights.

It’s interesting that the Mausoleum challenges are back in a new form. Rather than trying to help out the ghostly Miss Chalice—since she’s essentially alive now—a king invites you to partake in some challenges at the Floating Palace. Much like the Mausoleums, the Floating Palace challenges act as a soft refresher on mechanics in a way by taking away just about every other tool you have except for the one being tested. Sure, it’s a series of challenges, but in a way, it’s also a great way to practice things like the perfect timing for Miss Chalice’s unique dashing parries.

"The Delicious Last Course continues Cuphead’s proud tradition of just being a downright great game to play. The controls are as tight as ever, the boss fights are incredibly fun—especially the new ones—and its general sense of style is one that can be matched by perhaps a handful of other games."

The Delicious Last Course continues Cuphead’s proud tradition of just being a downright great game to play. The controls are as tight as ever, the boss fights are incredibly fun—especially the new ones—and its general sense of style is one that can be matched by perhaps a handful of other games. As we all know, the art style is good enough to actually get adapted for a TV show, and the new music is arguably even better than what the base game had. Of course, it’s also possible to completely miss out on the new music thanks to the frantic boss fights.

Now, before we go any further, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: the difficulty. Cuphead has a reputation for being a hard game. I won’t try and sugarcoat this; Cuphead and The Delicious Last Course may not be for everyone. Both the base game and the expansion are pretty difficult, and the expansion assumes that you have some experience with playing Cuphead before. In fact, the DLC’s whole goal is to give you more Cuphead to play. To that end, The Delicious Last Course doesn’t really offer any real ‘tutorial’, aside from a couple of screens telling you how to switch your character to Miss Chalice.

I, personally, don’t see Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course’s difficulty as a negative. While all the boss fights generally tend to have a lot going on, and some of the later bosses demand a lot of concentration, nothing in The Delicious Last Course feels unfair. All of the boss fights have been finely tuned with the general toolkits available to Cuphead, Mugman, and Miss Chalice. Once you’ve attempted a fight a few times, you’ll eventually realize that the bosses don’t really throw curveballs at you. All bosses have patterns that can be studied, and every attack can be avoided, either by just moving out of the way, or by making use of the parry on specific attacks.

It also helps that if an attempt at a boss is going particularly badly, the restart option, and even the ability to change equipment to try a different build, is just a pause menu away.

"Those who don’t like Cuphead won’t really find anything to love in The Delicious Last Course, and that’s perfectly fine. Ultimately, The Delicious Last Course is meant to essentially be more Cuphead, and I, for one, am glad for that."

Thematically speaking, Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course’s difficulty works quite well with its general story. Getting the ability to control the astral plane wouldn’t exactly be a walk in the park after all. Oh, and if for some reason you do find a fight too difficult, the shop sells quite a few items that can be used by Cuphead and Mugman that might just end up making some mechanics easier to handle.

Those who don’t like Cuphead won’t really find anything to love in The Delicious Last Course, and that’s perfectly fine. Ultimately, The Delicious Last Course is meant to essentially be more Cuphead, and I, for one, am glad for that. The Delicious Last Course adds great new fights, and interesting new characters, and an interesting secret to figure out. Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course is the perfect example of how a DLC or expansion doesn’t really have to reinvent the wheel; it just has to remember what made people love the base game to begin with, and expand on those concepts.

The Delicious Last Course is basically a must-buy for anyone who likes Cuphead, but it’s also worth keeping an eye on if you just like great side-scrolling action.

This game was reviewed on PC.